Millikan’s Dominic Tirado (11) tires to hit the ball past Long Beach Polys Shelton Diggs (11) and Ethan Oum (12) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Evan Crucil Chambers (16) hits the ball around Long Beach Polys Ethan Oum (12) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Long Beach Poly’s Paul Taso (9) reaches for the ball as the Jackrabbits take on Millikan in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Will Cordova (2) looks to hit the ball past Long Beach Polys Josiah Hill (16) and Josiah Walton (54) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Long Beach Poly’s Dylan Bucu (24) goes up for the ball from Millikans Kobe Magdael (4) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Long Beach Poly’s Josiah Hill (16) hits the ball over Millikans Evan Crucial Chambers (16) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Jacob Karkanen (1) goes up for the hit as the Rams take on Long Beach Poly in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Kibe Magdael (4) hits the ball past Long Beach Polys Josiah Walton (54) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Long Beach Poly’s Dylan Bucu (24) looks to get the ball past Millikans Dominic Tirado (11) and Evan Crucil Chambers (16) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Long Beach Poly’s Nicholas Frank (3) tries to hit the ball past Millikans Will Cordova (2) and Evan Crucil Chambers (16) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Kobe Magdael (4) returns the serve as the Rams take on Long Beach Poly in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Noble Pagulayan (7) sets the ball as the Rams take on Long Beach Poly in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Rai Flores (77) returns the serve as the Rams battle Long Beach Poly in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Long Beach Poly’s Nicholas Frank (3) hits the ball past Millikans Jacob Karkanen (1) and Evan Crucil Chambers (16) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Long Beach Poly’s Shelton DIggs (11) looks to hit the ball past Millikans Andre Medina (14) and Wes Aguilar (3) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Jacob Karkanen (1) hits the ball past Long Beach Polys Wyatt Sheets (7) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Jacob Karkanen (1) hits the ball past Long Beach Polys Wyatt Sheets (7) and Josiah Hill (16) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan players celebrate as they sweep Long Beach Poly in the Moore League showdown in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Jacob Karkanen (1) hits the ball over to Long Beach Polys Wyatt Sheets (7) and Ethan Oum (12) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikans Wes Aguilar (3) hits the ball past Long Beach Polys Ethan Oum (12) and Shelton DIggs (11) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
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Millikan’s Dominic Tirado (11) tires to hit the ball past Long Beach Polys Shelton Diggs (11) and Ethan Oum (12) in Long Beach, CA, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
LONG BEACH — Millikan’s boys volleyball team swept Long Beach Poly, 25-15, 25-23, 30-28, on Tuesday in a battle for control of first place in the Moore League.
The Rams (19-1, 5-0), who came into the contest with a half-game lead, finished the match by battling back from down 23-18 in the third set.
Millikan coach Matt Johnson was proud of the way his team regrouped in the third set.
“They saw (the score) and they were frustrated by it,” Johnson said, “but it was more like, ‘Why are we being so silly?’ I called that timeout. I’m like, ‘I have full confidence that you can come back in this thing, but you gotta be you, you gotta play like you. And you can’t play mad at each other.’
“This will be a good one to draw on as we move forward, and it’s nice they held it together and finished it.”
The Jackrabbits (12-9, 4-1) got a kill from middle blocker Josiah Hill to bring up set point at 24-21.
A Millikan kill from opposite hitter Dominic Tirado and a block by outside hitter Jacob Karkanen was followed by a Poly attack error to tie the set.
The Rams held off set point two more times before taking control with the frame tied 28-28. Outside hitter Kobe Magdael, who led Millikan with 14 kills, delivered his final one to pull in front, and Poly opposite hitter Wyatt Sheetz followed with an off-balance, twisting swing into the net to finish the match.
FINAL 🏐: Millikan beats Poly 25-15, 25-23, 30-28
The Rams came back from down 23-18 in the final set to finish the sweep @BeachVarsity @johnwdavis pic.twitter.com/Wzu9zfEmO9
— Tracy McDannald 📎 (@Tracy_McDannald) March 25, 2026
“We got stuck in a bad rotation,” Poly coach Sid Davidson said of the missed opportunity. “We didn’t execute, a couple balls fell, a ball was hit out. We missed certain stuff like that, but we’ll definitely try to be ready next time we play them.”
The teams will meet again April 22 in the regular-season finale at Poly.
Millikan produced a balanced attack, with five different players collecting five or more kills. Karkanen finished with 11 kills and four of the team’s 10 blocks. Middle blocker Andre Medina came on strong late and chipped in eight kills.
“I think we just relied on our passing,” Karkanen said. “We left some points because we weren’t getting in system. I think we locked in on our passing and got the middles more involved again. … All our starters, all our bench guys can play. We can rely on people, sub people out.”
Poly started to find some success after trailing 16-12 in set two and started to chip away once the frame got into the 20s. The Jackrabbits pulled within a point on four occasions before Magdael denied the comeback attempt.
“Millikan is definitely physical,” Davidson said. “They are definitely big at the net. Strong right-side hitting, strong outside hitting and definitely tough in the middle.”
But Poly found a spark from freshman outside hitter Shelton Diggs, who had four kills and a service ace over the final two sets and helped the Jackrabbits carry some momentum into the third frame.
Millikan also contributed 12 of its 15 attack errors over the last two sets to help Poly hang around.
“In the first and second sets, I feel like we struggled a little bit at the starts and we didn’t really show who we were,” Diggs said. “In the third set, we knew it was all or nothing. We were moving more on our digging, we were making better passes and just executing better.
“I’ve been working on my swinging. I just switched to the outside position so this has all been pretty new, so learning how to consistently pass, how to consistently swing and just being ready has really helped me.”